Mikel Arteta makes Everton crowd claim and reveals weakness Arsenal identified

Arsenal Mikel Arteta was delighted with how he felt his side were able to limit the impact of Everton’s support in his first win as an opposition manager at Goodison Park.

The Gunners boss spent six-and-a-half seasons in the Blues midfield before his transfer to the Emirates Stadium in 2011 and knows just what kind of influence Everton’s home fans can have in their own ground if they’re able to build up a head of steam. Arteta said: “I know this crowd really well. You could feel it, they have moments that they lift when the game changes and momentum shifts and you have to try and stay very far away from that game.

“When they get that and the roller-coaster, they’re a really, really good team and it’s really difficult to get out of that but I think we dealt with that really well.”

The 41-year-old added: “I’m really happy, extremely happy with the performance, the way we played. I was there for six years, I’ve not been able to do that.

VERDICT: Sean Dyche is about to get two chances to end recurring Everton nightmare

RATINGS: Everton player ratings as Jarrad Branthwaite good but two stars poor vs Arsenal

“That was the challenge in front of us and the opportunity as well, how we looked at everything that we needed to do and I saw that on the pitch. We dominated the game from start to finish, we created a lot of chances, we gave nothing away and to do that here is a big compliment to the players because it’s not easy at all to do that.”

The only goal of the game from substitute Leandro Trossard came after Everton failed to clear their lines sufficiently from an Arsenal short corner and Arteta admitted it was something his side had identified. He said: “We’re working everything. Every manager when you prepare for games tries